Guardian

EUROPE football governing body, UEFA, Thursday agreed changes to the rules on the Champions League, which could see the continent’s top nations having up to five teams in its top club competition.

From 2015, the Europa League winners, as well as, the European champions will qualify automatically for the following season’s Champions League, UEFA sources have confirmed.

But if the Europa League is won by an English club, for example, they will not take the qualification place of a team finishing fourth in the Premier League - as happened to Tottenham last season when Chelsea won the Champions League but finished sixth.

Were the rules in force this year, fifth-placed Tottenham would have qualified by virtue of the fact Chelsea won the Europa League.

The principle was agreed by UEFA’s Executive Committee yesterday and would be formally announced at the European governing body’s Congress in London today.

The move is designed to make the Europa League more attractive and to persuade clubs to take the competition more seriously.

The change to allow a maximum of five clubs also answers concerns from the European Clubs’ Association, who felt that the chances of the Europa League winners taking a place away from clubs qualifying via the domestic league was unacceptably high.

In the unlikely event of two clubs from the same country winning the Champions League and Europa League and both finishing outside of the domestic qualifying places, then those teams would still qualify for the Champions League but the side finishing fourth would miss out.

Meanwhile, UEFA’s General Secretary, Gianni Infantio announced yesterday that the Olympiastadion in Berlin would host Germany’s first Champions League final in 2015. The Europa League final was awarded to Warsaw’s National Stadium in Poland.

The timing could not have been better for Germany as it is on the brink of witnessing an all-German Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

The Olympiastadion – home to Hertha Berlin since 1963 – will be hosting its first European final. However, it has hosted international events in that past – namely, the 1936 Olympic Games and the 1974 and 2006 World Cup final.

Every year since 1985, it has hosted the DFB-Pokal final (the German Cup) and from next season, it will also stage Bundesliga football as Hertha won the second-tier this season.

Germany has hosted the UEFA Cup final before when Dortmund hosted the 2001 final between Liverpool and Spanish side Deportivo Alaves and the 2010 final between Atletico Madrid and Fulham.

The venue for the Europa League final in Warsaw has never staged a major European final before but five matches were played in this newly-refurbished ground in Euro 2012 – including the opening fixture between Poland and Greece.

The National Stadium also hosted the quarter final between Czech Republic and Portugal and the semi final between Germany and Italy in Euro 2012 as well.

The venue for the 2014 Champions League final was awarded to Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in Lisbon and the 2014 Europa League final was awarded to the Juventus Stadium in Turin.